Kicks for Heart 2015 kicked it into high gear Sunday morning and raised over $11,000 for The Heart & Stroke Foundation. This brings DOUVRIS’s grand fundraising total to date to (drum roll please) $44,000! 100 people crowded the Travel Lodge to put money where their sweat was and raise funds and awareness for this worthwhile cause.

Crushing it at the third annual CardioAthon were Sensei Peter Douvris and Liana Arbon, both exhausting everybody with their high-octane workouts. Great music, great exercise and great fun!

Next, Sensei Fortunato Aversa brought it home as only he can. His awesome workout mixed it up with glow sticks and flashing lights. And, in the end, stuffies flew through the air for anyone still able to move any of their extremities to catch them.

Cindy Naufal and Justine Senechal took the top spots as the highest individual fundraisers. The Old Timers, captained by Sensei Peter Douvris, took the prize as top team fundraiser. Our thanks to Executive Golf, Bridgehead, Sirena’s Day Spa, the Martial Artist, SkyZone, Signature Hair Salon and Anna Belanger massage, whose generous donations allowed these top fundraisers to crawl home with some awesome prizes for all their hard work.

Our thanks to our Master of Ceremonies Wendy Daniels, the Rogers TV community cruiser, Tim Hortons for their coffee and donuts, Jean Stephan Clark for providing emergency medical services, Jeff Lidstone for his photography, and our very own Douvris Martial Arts Demo Team for kicking off the event with an impressive martial arts display.

A big thanks also goes to the organizational team: Master John Douvris, Cathy Douvris, Lise Taggart, Suzanne Hopkins, Brigida Aversa and Maureen Clarke of DOUVRIS; as well as Gonzalo Rodriquez and July Percival from the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

And our BIGGEST AND WARMEST THANK YOU to each and every one of the participants, who showed some HEART and gave it everything they had for a great cause. We would be nothing without you!